detection
by wild wolf free17
Summary: drabbles about John
1. possession

**Title**: possession

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU

**Pairings**: John/Sherlock

**Rating**: PG  
**Wordcount**: 95

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: Sherlock

* * *

Lestrade looks horrified. He also looks angry, _betrayed_, and John has no moment to spare. He liked Lestrade, but—well. He likes Sherlock more. Sherlock is bright in a world of drab, and John wants to keep him. Lestrade is too clever for his own good. He's caught on and won't look the other way, so John smiles at him, shushes him, and stabs him in the gut.

Lestrade will simply be another victim of Moriarty, and Scotland Yard's best man is gone.

Sherlock is not quite safe yet, but it's a step closer.


	2. love's ferocity snarls

**Title**: love's ferocity snarls

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: takes place after "The Great Game"

**Pairings**: pre-John/Sherlock

**Rating**: PG  
**Wordcount**: 350

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: physics

* * *

Sherlock is a genius. John is still shocked sometimes, at the things Sherlock understands, at the connections he can find and follow. And even though Sherlock often seems to be at a loss in social interactions, John has seen his acting. He _could_ pass, if he really tried. If he wanted it.

John thinks, sometimes, that Sherlock wanted it in the past. And he did try. But something went spectacularly wrong, and John's flatmate is the result.

He's a genius who doesn't eat more than half the time, who forgets to sleep, and who doesn't remember that other people can't see what he does. And he knows that no one is as smart as him, except maybe Moriarty and Mycroft.

_Good company_, John thinks, as Sherlock explains to Lestrade exactly how the businessman's piss ended up in his lungs.

A madman, the British government, and a consulting detective. A bad joke, really.

John's not sure, sometimes, how Sherlock even survived so long. Mycroft, probably.

Ah, and look, Sherlock just alienated the police again. Shocking.

Sherlock glances over to John, a question on his face. John steps forward, tells Lestrade they'll be in touch, and guides Sherlock out.

Time for his explanation on something Sherlock actually gave up on understanding or caring about years ago.

Sherlock is a genius. No matter how John tries, he has accepted he will never fully comprehend the sheer enormity of the intellect of Sherlock Holmes.

But Sherlock defers to him. In certain things, most of the time, Sherlock turns to him for guidance and listens when John speaks. And that is why John stays when everyone has warned him away.

Sherlock needs someone to feed him, remind him to sleep, and guard his back. Somebody who cares for Sherlock, not just his potential or his capabilities.

And John needs someone to care for, someone to protect.

He's already killed for Sherlock, after knowing him for less than a day, all told. And now that he does know Sherlock…

Well. Sherlock is his, and he keeps his things safe, no matter what it takes.


	3. fair image for whom happily I die

**Title**: fair image for whom happily I die

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for all 3 eps

**Pairings**: John/Sherlock

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 230

**Point** **of** **view**: second

**Prompt**: twitterpaited

* * *

Dr. John Watson shot a man for your brother when he barely knew Sherlock. He refused money without knowing how much, and he helps Sherlock even when it inconveniences him. It inconveniences him a great deal, you know.

Dr. John Watson killed a man for Sherlock. He risked his own life to protect Sherlock. You understand the appeal of Sherlock, of course. There is a very short list of things you wouldn't do for your brother, and that is only because they are impossible according to current laws of existence. (You're working on that.)

But Dr. John Watson is ordinary. Physically, he is ordinary; mentally, slightly above average; and though he is very loyal, he's also unforgiving.

According to everything you know, he should have left Sherlock sometime in the first week—instead, he followed Sherlock to a murderer and shot the man dead. And he stayed through two kidnappings and a bomb on his person and a million small slights and annoyances and the violin for days at a time.

You know your brother better than anyone. You love him above all else. And still, you could not cohabitate with him.

But Dr. John Watson can, and Dr. John Watson does, and you hope Sherlock never commits an act that Watson finds unforgivable. If you have to vanish the man for breaking your brother's heart, Sherlock will be most annoyed.


	4. And indeed there will be time

**Title**: And indeed there will be time

**Fandom**: Sherlock BBC/Highlander

**Disclaimer**: not my charcters

**Warnings**: future!fic, momentary character death

**Pairings**: John/Sherlock

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 500

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Dedication**: caffienekitty for her birthday, to her prompt _someone dealing with a __panic attack__? Sherlock, Chuck or Supernatural, any of them_

* * *

It happens on a routine chase, the kind that's barely worth mentioning anymore, and a piece of information that Sherlock overlooked. (He didn't miss it; he merely didn't register how important it truly was until a horrifically inopportune moment.)

John realizes a full minute before Sherlock that they've lost control of the situation, and he reacts with admirable swiftness; he lunges for Sherlock, covering his body as best he can, and tells him, "_Don't panic_."

Sherlock does not panic. He feels John's body jerk, hears John's gasp of pain, and watches John die, feels him go slack, and demands in a whisper that becomes a shout, "John? John!"

The warehouse is silent. Their quarry is gone. And John is dead, still covering Sherlock.

Sherlock does panic, now.

o0o

Minutes become hours. Sherlock's mobile is in his hand, but he's yet to text anyone. John's head is in his lap and his free hand tangles in John's hair.

He should call Mycroft. Or Lestrade. Both, probably.

He's solved the case, of course. That final piece of information has slotted into place.

He should call Mycroft. Let his big brother fix everything, make it so this never happened.

But it _did_ happen, and Mycroft can't bring John back to life.

Sherlock realizes, distantly listening to himself sob, that he's been crying for hours now. Muttering, too, begging John to come back.

He'd be horrified if he was at a crime-scene and witnessed someone acting like this. He'd turn to John, see the sorrow and empathy on John's face, and he'd hesitate to ask, not wanting John to look at him with disappointed eyes.

He really should call Mycroft. And Lestrade.

Sherlock _would_ ask, though, as they left the scene. He'd assure John that he himself would never act like that, but he'd inquire as to why someone would. And he wouldn't admit to himself or to John, that if anything ever happened to two—maybe four—people, he would grieve before doing something terribly violent and utterly fatal.

John would give him a slightly pitying look before explaining exactly what the still-wailing man, woman, or child was feeling, and Sherlock would listen. Later, he would decide whether to delete the information or not.

After all, John would explain the next time he asked, and the next, and the next…

"John," he murmurs, fingers tightening in John's hair. "_John_."

He finally begins composing a text, telling Mycroft and Lestrade to come at once.

Before he hits **send**, John gasps and coughs, eyes opening.

Sherlock drops his phone.

o0o

Much later, John will tell a very old friend that he only worried for a moment, blinking up at Sherlock's shocked face, how Sherlock would react.

Sherlock will cut in, then, and tell the old friend that of course he listened to John and didn't panic. Sherlock Holmes does not panic.

The old friend will chuckle and wish them many happy centuries together.

John will smile and meet Sherlock's small, sincere grin with a thorough kiss.


	5. They had not skill enough

**Title**: They had not skill enough your worth to sing

**Fandom**: Highlander/Sherlock

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: character death

**Pairings**: John/Sherlock (ish)

**Rating**: PG  
**Wordcount**: 110

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: any, any, our hearts are joined until Time slips its tired hand into our tired hands

* * *

"You always knew you couldn't keep him, child," his old teacher says softly, placing a strong hand on his shoulder.

"I know that," he hisses, pulling away. "Damn you."

What's left without John? Without his flatmate, his keeper, his _friend_?

His friend. The best man he's ever known, will ever know. Even Mycroft likes—liked him. And Mycroft has never liked anyone Sherlock liked. And no one has ever been like John. Will ever be like John again.

"Those who took him," his teacher murmurs, kneeling beside him and pulling him close, "they are still alive."

Sherlock raises his head to meet Death's eyes. "Not for long," he promises.


	6. You were the wind and I the sea

**Title**: You were the wind and I the sea

**Fandom**: Sherlock (BBC)/Firefly

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Sara Teasdale

**Warnings**: spoilers for The Great Game; takes place half a year after Serenity

**Pairings**: implied Sherlock/John; Simon/Kaylee; post-Zoe/Wash

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 430

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: Sherlock (BBC)/Firefly, Sherlock + or / John, and Serenity's crew, Mal had no idea his latest cargo was smuggling one man's heart across the 'verse. This was déjà vu all over again.

* * *

Watson's quiet, keeps to himself, and saves Mal's life dockside, halfway to their destination.

"You're a gorram doctor?" Mal demands, while Watson shoves his shirt into the wound, grabs Mal's gun, and shoots the dirty bastards who ambushed them.

"Stay still, Captain," Watson tells him, barely looking up and still getting the ringleader between the eyes.

Zoe and Jayne show up then and Watson barks out orders, but Mal decides it's a nice time to black out.

0o0

Watson is a model passenger. The Tams could learn from him. Simon asks him questions over supper, and Watson answers civilly, drawing more from Simon than Mal thinks he realizes.

Jayne asks about the shooting. That, Watson neatly avoids, and Jayne ends up talking for ten minutes about his childhood home. By the time he catches on, supper is over and Watson thanks them all for the food, departing silently.

River watches him go. "What is it?" Simon asks, Kaylee leaning forward, all of them waiting.

River smiles and says, "His heart's big enough for everyone, and he'll keep it safe 'til they're together and two become one again."

Mal looks at Zoe, then back to River. "So, he's not a threat, then?"

Pushing back from the table, River shakes her head. "Not to us," she says, rising to her feet and spinning in place. "Not ever, unless we hurt his heart."

She stops suddenly, glancing around covertly before whispering, "Wanna hear a secret?"

"Yeah," Kaylee murmurs, leaning in.

River looks around one more time before telling them, "His heart couldn't be burnt, because it was never his alone."

Mal has no idea what that means. Going by their expressions, no one knows. Not that that's close to bein' new.

River dances her way out of the room. Mal shakes his head and leans back in his chair.

"At least we got another doc," Jayne says. "One that can even shoot."

Simon gives him a polite glare and sternly rises to his feet, following his sister. Kaylee's at his heels, taking his hand and murmuring something.

"What do you think?" Mal asks Zoe.

She ponders for a moment, rubbing a hand gently across her swelling belly. "I want to trust him," she finally says, slowly, like it's a confession. "And I believe River might have the right of it." She meets Mal's eyes. "He is a dangerous man, but not to us. At least, not at the moment."

"Yeah," Mal says. "That's what I think, too."

Hopefully, nothing else will go wrong before they reach Watson's destination.

(Knowing their luck, not gorram likely.)


	7. love notes

**Title**: love notes

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: takes place after Great Game

**Pairings**: implied John/Sherlock

**Rating**: PG  
**Wordcount**: 42

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Sherlock (BBC), Sherlock/John, these are the ways I show my devotion

**Note**: In case it's unclear: odd numbers are John, even are Sherlock.

* * *

1. buy milk, eggs, jam, bread - don't forget meeting at 3! Mycroft wants a chat.

2. Solved crime. Easy. Explained in small words. Lestrade suitably impressed.

3. BREAD

4. Bored now. Why are ordinary people so dull?

5. Angelo's at 8

6. Never go away again.

6.5. Please.


	8. we strain to hold a bridge

**Title**: we strain to hold a bridge between them open

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Denise Levertov

**Warnings**: preseries

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 125

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Sherlock BBC, Mycroft, why he got into government

* * *

Mycroft knew from the first time Sherlock spoke a complete sentence that the world would never accept his brother. Sherlock would be ostracized for his intelligence, for his strength, for his refusal to yield to others.

Mummy and Father did their best with two impossibly difficult children. Mycroft learned to blend, to hide. Sherlock attempted and then steadfastly refused. For all his intellect, he could not understand what he gained by compromise. Throughout his childhood, the two years it took to complete university - Sherlock stood alone.

Mycroft did not try to change his brother. He knew that Sherlock was unique, and while not perfect, he was perfectly astounding. Mycroft would not change his brother.

Instead, he vowed to change the world.


	9. our better part remains

**Title**: our better part remains

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Milton

**Warnings**: character death; implied torture

**Pairings**: implied John/Sherlock

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 195

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. -Numbers 35:19

* * *

Sherlock dies alone. For that, John will never forgive himself.

0o0

Lestrade doesn't even pretend to believe that John will let anyone else find Sherlock's killer. Donavan is dry-eyed, but clenching her jaw, and Anderson's face is buried in her shoulder.

Mycroft's head is bowed. Mrs. Hudson hasn't stopped sobbing.

And John. John looks at Lestrade. Lestrade closes his eyes.

0o0

It wasn't Moriarty. John knows this because Moriarty himself tracks John down and demands the chance to go after Sherlock's killer.

John simply tilts his head and murmurs, _Why __are __you __asking __permission?_

Moriarty pauses. _He __would__'__ve __died __for __you, _the madman finally says.

_Very __well, _John says.

0o0

It is a gorgeous spring day when John gives Moriarty first-go at the man who murdered Sherlock and left him to drown in his own blood.

Moriarty makes the man scream and howl and beg for mercy that will never be found in that desolate little chamber.

When Moriarty stands aside, there isn't much left. But there is enough for John to say, _I__'__ve __imagined __this. __And __I __think __the __best __way __is __to __simply __stand __here__… __and __watch._

Sherlock's killer does not die alone. But he wished he had.


	10. lightning and the lightning bug

**Title**: the difference between lightning and the lightning bug

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Mark Twain

**Warnings**: mentions of violence

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 110

**Point****of****view**: third

**Prompt**: BBC Sherlock, John, jumpers

* * *

There's an art to being underestimated. John learned that at school. Wear innocuous clothing and no one expects you to knock them down with one punch, or beat them so viciously they won't walk for months.

John knows that he's not a large man. But he's quick, and he's sure, and he's really good with a gun. Really good without a gun, too, but to look at him – you'd never know it.

And the clothing he chooses to wear is a large part of that. Death in a fuzzy jumper… well. He tags along beside Sherlock, always on guard, and eyes pass right by him. He does so love being underestimated.


	11. run red

**Title**: run red

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU for The Great Game

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 42

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Sherlock (BBC), John +/ Sherlock, war

* * *

Moriarty doesn't yet know what he's done.

John had been _retired_, happily so. He'd been Sherlock's friend, Sherlock's keeper.

Without Sherlock to follow and protect, he is simply a weapon seeking war.

Moriarty stole Sherlock away. For that… John goes to war.


End file.
